The passing of actor James Earl Jones may have silenced his voice, but that voice still conjures up such ‘Force’-ful memories that we can recall it at any time.

It is almost difficult to believe that the man who possessed what is generally regarded as the greatest voice in the world of English-speaking actors and who spoke some of the most memorable lines in film history battled a severe stutter as a child.

James Earl Jones was 93 when he passed away in early September, ending a decades-long career of theatre, movie and television performances where his mere presence, coupled with a voice that was praised as a stirring basso profondo, lent gravel and gravitas to any role he touched. Looking for a strong, deep and credible voice to celebrate its 10th anniversary in 1990, CNN looked to Jones. His “This is CNN” tagline is still used in 2024 and immediately identifies the network.

Jones often said that poetry and acting helped him overcome a stuttering disability so severe that as a child for years he refused to speak at all. Following his service as an officer in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he turned to acting in the 1950s and made his Broadway debut in 1957. Jones worked steadily on Broadway, winning the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as a boxer in The Great White Hope in 1968. He reprised the role for a 1970 film adaptation, which earned him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations.

The mark of a great actor is that classic films seem to find them. That was a trademark of Jones’s career, when he made his film debut in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove in 1964. He enjoyed steady work during the 1960s and 1970s, becoming one of the best-known Shakespearean actors of the time.

Hollywood producers began to take notice of his abilities, versatility and stage presence and subsequently sought him out, not only for his acting, but for that voice. In 1977, Jones made his début in his iconic voiceover role as Darth Vader in George Lucas’ space-opera blockbuster film Star Wars. His “[Luke], I am your father,” is one of the most memorable lines of any modern film. When Disney was searching for a commanding and “king-like” voice for the mighty Mufasa in the 1994 animated film The Lion King, there was only one name on the list: James Earl Jones.

In 1989, he played a memorable role in Field of Dreams. Originally thought to be a summer throwaway of interest only to hardcore baseball fans, the story of a magical Iowa cornfield that was transformed into a baseball field and attracted players from previous generations seemed to touch a nerve in America, evoking a return to simpler, more wholesome times.

Jones played reclusive Boston writer Terrence Mann, an almost J.D. Salinger-type figure — proud yet burdened by his past writing success. Kevin Costner’s character Ray convinces Mann to come to his Iowa cornfield, where Mann quickly realizes he is on some otherworldly mission to discover the past and, with it, his youth.

Faced with financial disaster by turning his farmland into a baseball field, Costner’s character considers closing it down. Mann has other advice. His soliloquy about baseball and its power to unite generations of Americans through good and bad times, what the game has meant to people from all walks of life and how people will come to this field to experience that feeling again, “like they were dipped in holy water,” belongs on the highlight reel of life.

With the skill and gravitas that only James Earl Jones could deliver, his closing statement of, “People will come, Ray — people will most definitely come,” summed up not only a movie but a special emotion about the power of a simple game, and remains an iconic slice of American motion picture history.

James Earl Jones was one of those rare actors where you can close your eyes and still hear his voice in your mind. There is comfort in knowing we can close our eyes and still hear one of the greatest actors of his generation, any time we want.